Whether you’re huddled around the campfire, composing an email to a friend, or sitting down to write a novel, storytelling is fundamental to human nature. But as any writer can tell you, the blank page can be daunting. It’s tough to know where to get started, what details to include in each scene, and how to move from the kernel of an idea to a completed manuscript. More...

Daniel Maughan, Royal College of Psychiatrists Sustainability Fellow, talks to Toby Pillinger about the work he has done over the past two years to improve the awareness of sustainability amongst psychiatrists and the research he has produced. More...

Why are professional psychiatric organisations in the rest of the world reluctant to be critical of Russian Psychiatry, when it abuses diagnosis and turns it into a political tool? A new paper in the academic journal 'International Psychiatry' published by the Royal College of Psychiatrists explores the issue: 'Is there a resumption of political psychiatry in the former Soviet Union?' by Robert van Voren. More...

Joint leads of the MedFest Central Organising Committee, Dr Khurram Sadiq and Dr Georgia Belam, together with local liaison for the committee, Tom Dewhurst, give an overview of Medfest in conversation with Dr Howard Ryland, acting Editor of the College newsletter. More...

The use of Tasers by police forces is often mis-reported and mis-represented in the press and popular media. Psychiatrist, Dr Raj Persaud, puts the taser on the couch and discusses its use with two police officers from London. More...

A new book 'The Punishers Brain' authored by US Trial Judge Morris Hoffman, forms the basis of this podcast discussion on the latest neuroscience and psychology research about telling right and wrong. More...

Ummni Khan is an associate Professor in the Department of Law and Legal Studies at Carleton University.
Her new book entitled 'Vicarious Kinks - S/M in the Socio-Legal Imaginary' explores various aspects of Sado-Masochism in terms of its practices and impact on wider culture and the law.
Here, the author discusses the themes with Dr Raj Persaud More...

Michael Ferguson has written a fascinating book review of two recent biographies on the famous mathematician and cryptographer Alan Turing - who recently received a royal pardon following his prosecution for homosexuality in the 1950's. Did Turing kill himself with an apple poisoned with cyanide or was it a disguised assassination by the British Secret Security Services who might have become concerned that Turing was a security risk given his homosexuality? Michael Ferguson discusses these issues and others with psychiatrist Raj Persaud. More information is available here: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-ra...
Michael Ferguson's book review reference: Journal of Homosexuality Volume 56, Issue 8, 2009. The Man Who Knew Too Much: Alan Turing and the Invention of the Computer, by David Leavitt and Alan Turing, the Enigma, by Alan Hodges More...

Dr Raj Persaud talks to Jennifer Strickland and Julie Walker about Bibliotherapy - a therapy which involves using a wide range of material in the form of books, quotes, readings, poetry and creative writing to help people with mental health difficulties. More...

Dr Howard Ryland, Associate Editor of the RCPsych eNewsletter is joined by Theodore Spyrou, CEO of the Helplines Partnership.
Here, they discuss the role of the Helplines Partnership in supporting people with mental health and emotional needs. More...

Jacqueline Hopson's PhD research, linked to the way in which psychiatrists are represented in literary fiction, has been recently published in the Psychiatric Bulletin. She is especially interested in focusing on the fictional patient’s perception of therapists, as well as the reader’s response to depictions of psychiatrists. Here, she explores the topic with Raj Persaud. More...

Professor Peter Woodruff and Raj Persaud discuss the latest neuroscience research on hearing voices or auditory hallucinations. The conversation was recorded at the Annual Congress of the Royal College of Psychiatrists at the Barbican More...

Professor Mary Phillips, Professor of Psychiatry and Clinical Translational Science at the University of Pittsburgh, talks to Raj Persaud about latest research investigating whether we can predict who is going to go on to develop mood disorders More...

Raj Persaud interviews Victoria, (not her real name) a victim of a serious sexual assault who developed mental health problems, yet has made a good recovery. She has been successfully treated for bipolar illness, but her problems may be linked to a difficult childhood and strained relationship with her father.​
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Why was Shakespeare performed inside Broadmoor Hospital - a high-security psychiatric unit?
Festivities on the 450th anniversary of William Shakespeare's birth celebrate the writer's literary and story-telling skills, but recent academic studies suggest the Bard may have anticipated Sigmund Freud, and even modern neuroscience. More...

We are discussing a paper, Did Alan Turing have Asperger's syndrome? (O'Connell, H., & Fitzgerald, M. 2003. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, 20, 1, 28-31) co-written by Professor Michael Fitzgerald. Dr Fitzgerald poses the question of whether the diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome could be attached to Alan Turing, the famous mathematician and code breaker who single-handedly may have shortened the war by 2 years. Alan Turing was recently pardoned following his conviction under laws of indecency. Controversy continues to surround whether Turing killed himself or was assassinated by the security services. More...

The current theory apparently being promoted by officials is that the crash of the Malaysian plane may have been an act of suicide, most probably by a pilot. But do mental health experts agree that this is the most likely explanation of this deepening mystery?Aviation Mental Health More...

Dr Robert Fisher, a consultant psychiatrist in east London, talks to eNewsletter Associate Editor Dr Howard Ryland about his work and his recent swim across the English Channel, which he completed in 14 hours 23 minutes.
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Amy Hagopian is an academic based at the University of Washington and is lead author of the very latest research paper trying to measure how many people have died in Iraq as a result of the conflict there.
In this interview with Raj Persaud, Amy discusses how, given the mental and physical health implications of war, doctors and health workers should be campaigning against war. She also explains the methodology behind this kind of rigorous survey and why her results are so different from alternative sources of information such as the Iraq Body Count. More...

Marion Janner OBE, chief executive of Star Wards, talks to Dr Howard Ryland, associate editor of the RCPsych eNewsletter, about what inspired her to develop the project. She also discusses the role of animals in helping people with mental health problems, and the role of consultants on inpatient wards More...

Louise is a young mother who developed postnatal depression (PND) following the eventful birth of her first child. Here, she discusses with Raj Persaud her experiences, and what it was like to be admitted to a Mother and Baby Unit. More...

Psychiatrist Dr Raj Persaud talks to Dr Fiona Subotsky, an eminent Child and Adolescent UK Psychiatrist, with an interest in the History of Psychiatry and Honorary Archivist to the Royal College of Psychiatrists. She has researched the famous 19th Century series of gruesome murders which were committed in the area surrounding the new location of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the East End of London. In particular, she has analysed a psychiatrist who became prominent for claiming to have diagnosed and identified Jack the Ripper. More...

Kenny Johnston, Founder of the Counselling, Life Advice and Suicide Prevention charity, CLASP, talks to Dr Raj Persaud about how he set up the organisation after he twice tried, but failed, to take his own life. More...

This podcast asks the big question of what sustainability in mental health services looks like. It also addresses how clinicians can contribute to improving sustainability in their clinical work. Here, Dr Daniel Maughan, RCPsych Research Fellow in Sustainability, talks to Dr Charlotte Allan, Academic Clinical Lecturer in Old Age Psychiatry, Oxford Deanery. More...

Dr Raj Persaud is joined today by Vicky Pryce, former joint head of the government’s Economic Services, who’s recently written a book entitled ‘Prisonomics – behind bars in Britain’s failing prisons’. Here, Vicky outlines her experiences and observations of her recent spell behind bars.
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Dr Chris Cantor a psychiatrist based at the University of Queensland, talks to Dr Raj Persaud about his recently published study of traumatic entrapment, appeasement and complex post-traumatic stress disorder: evolutionary perspectives of hostage reactions, domestic abuse and the Stockholm syndrome. More...

This podcast, presented by Dr Yasir Hameed, is based on the annual report of the Iraq Subcommittee (ISC) which summarises the background of the committee and its achievements over its 8-year journey. Also explored, are the challenges that face mental health professionals in Iraq. More...

ISC member, Dr Yasir Hameed talks to Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Peter Hughes about his recent visit to Iraq as part of United Nations team for training primary care professionals in dealing with mental health problems.
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Audio 1: Learning disability vision - the vision for better health and well being -
This Learning Disabilities Vision document (in MP3 format) has been created to reflect the findings in the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities (FPLD) report and further developments in government policy. More...

Audio 2: Learning Disabilities Consultation Findings Audio
This is the full report (on audio) to the formal consultation by the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities (FPLD), an independent, nationally recognised organisation. More...

Diane Goslar is a service user because of her alcohol addiction. She is now in recovery having detoxed some time ago. Here Diane talks with Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones about what it is like being in recovery – the difficulties, the challenges, the huge rewards and why she is determined to remain sober. More...

Dr Howard Ryland, Assistant-Editor, RCPsych News, interviews Nicola Allen about Headucate, a student society at the University of East Anglia that runs mental health workshops in local schools with the aim of raising mental health awareness and tackling stigma. Nicola is based at Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia (UEA) and is in year 4. She previously studied at BSc Mental Health Nursing at UEA and was a qualified as a nurse just before starting medicine in 2009. More...

The NHS in the east of England wants acute hospitals to be better at looking after adults with a learning disability and adults with autism and this report looks at what is planned to make this happen. More...

Sophia Turner is a sixth form student from Belfast. She is keen to pursue a career in medicine, specifically psychiatry. As part of her work experience, Sophia worked in a Children’s Learning Disability In-Patient Unit. More...

Dr Sohom Das talks with Dr Jane Anderson. They are both Higher Trainees in Forensic Psychiatry discussing the practical steps you can take if you think somone you know is developing a mental health problem or mental health crisis. More...

Cliff was diagnosed with bipolar when he was at university in 1972. In this podcast, he talks to Dr Wojtek Wojcik about his life managing the illness, and his experiences of running a self help group for the charity Bipolar UK. More...

Heroes in Psychiatry: a series of occasional interviews with people (not all of them psychiatrists), who have made a distinguished contribution to the understanding and care of people with mental health problems.
In this interview Professor Sir David Goldberg talks to Dr Mark Salter about classification in psychiatry. More...

Dr Norman Poole is a locum consultant liaison psychiatrist, at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London. Dr Poole trained in psychiatry at St George's Hospital and Medical School where he developed an interest in liaison and neuropsychiatry.
Here, Dr Poole discusses his published paper on Abreaction for conversion disorder: systematic review with meta-analysis with interviewer, Dr Ovais Badat. The paper, written with some co-authors, appeared in the August issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry. More...

Professor Stefan Priebe, Chair for Social and Community Psychiatry at Barts and the London School of Medicine has been the principal investigator of a number of large national and international studies, and authored more than 350 peer-reviewed scientific publications. He has also been an advisor to the UK government, and various regional organizations, on service development in psychiatry. Together with some co-authors he has published a paper in the March issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry on Patients’ views of involuntary hospital admission. Here he discusses this topic with Dr Saliha Nazir. More...

Dr King-wa Fu is a Research Assistant Professor at the Journalism and Media Studies Centre (JMSC), at the University of Hong Kong.
Together with his co-authors, Dr Fu has published a paper in the June issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry on Internet addiction: prevalence, discriminant validity and correlates among adolescents in Hong Kong. Here, he discusses the topic with Dr Ovais Badat More...

Dr Louise Howard is Head of the new Section of Women’s Mental Health at the Health Service and Population Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, KCL.
Together with her co-authors, Dr Howard has published a paper on Supported employment: randomised controlled trial in the May issue of the BJP. Here, she discusses the topic with Dr Ovais Badat More...

Kevin Healy is a consultant psychiatrist in psychotherapy and Lead Clinician of the Cassel Hospital in Richmond in London. He has worked for many years with individuals suffering the impact of personality disorder on themselves and on their families. He is particularly interested in working therapeutically with young people and their families. He is a former Chair of the Association of Therapeutic Communities, is presently on the executive of the Psychotherapy Faculty and is a member of the Public Education Committee of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Here, Dr Healy talks to Director of Communications & Policy, Deborah Hart, about his experience of visiting a London school where 10 months previously, they had experienced the suicide of a pupil. More...

Dr Daphne Keen is a Consultant Developmental Paediatrician and honorary Senior Lecturer at St George’s, London.
Her clinical interests have largely focused on the neurodevelopmental disorders presenting with Autism and ADHD, and the development of multidisciplinary approaches and care pathways in these areas, and more recently, in Selective Mutism. She has a particular interest in the interaction between developmental and behavioural disorders and in the use of psychopharmacology.
Together with her co-authors, Dr Keen has published a paper on autism, ethnicity and maternal immigration in the April issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry. Here, she explores this topic with Dr Ovais Badat More...

Dr James MacCabe is an honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at the National Psychosis Unit.
He graduated in medicine from the University of London and completed his basic and higher specialist training in Psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital in 2004. In 2006 he obtained an MSc in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and he obtained his PhD in 2008. Dr MacCabe was awarded a Clinical Senior Lectureship in 2009 by the Higher Education Funding Council for England.
Dr MacCabe conducts research into the causes and consequences of psychoses using the tools of life course epidemiology. Much of his research is conducted in collaboration with international partners in Sweden and elsewhere.
Here, James discusses his recent paper on ‘Excellent school performance at age 16 and risk of adult bipolar disorder: national cohort study’ with Dr Ovais Badat. The paper was published in the February issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry. More...

Dinesh Bhugra, Professor of Mental Health and Cultural Diversity at the Institute of Psychiatry was elected unopposed as President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and took up post in July 2008.
Here, Dinesh chats to Dr Mark Salter about his career in psychiatry and his presidency. More...

Dr Simon Moore is a psychologist working in the School of Dentistry, Cardiff University. He is co-lead on the Youth Alcohol Research Network and a member of the Violence and Society Research Group.
Together with some co-authors, he has published a short report
in the October issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry on confectionery consumption in childhood and adult violence.
Here, he discusses this topic with Dr Margaret Murphy. More...

Diane Goslar is a service user who attends an Alcohol Treatment Service in central London, now as an after-care patient.
Here Diane talks with Dr Ken Checinski about her on-going struggle with, and recovery from, alcoholism. More...

Lord Owen discusses his recent book on Hubris Syndrome; Bush, Blair and the Intoxication of Power with Professor Peter Tyrer, Editor of the British Journal of Psychiatry and author of Nidotherapy. More...

Dr Dominic Beer is based at the Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, Bracton Centre in Kent and has published a paper in the December issue of the Psychiatric Bulletin entitled Psychiatric intensive care and low secure units: where are we now? Here he discusses his paper with Dr Mark Salter. More...

Professor Kam Bhui is based at the Centre for Psychiatry, Barts & The London Medical School.
Together with some co-authors, Professor Bhui has published a paper in the November issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry entitled ‘Suicide rates in people of South Asian origin in England and Wales: 1993–2003’. Here, he discusses the paper with Dr Mark Salter. More...

Dr Susham Gupta is a specialist registrar in adult and old age psychiatry and is currently based at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.
Together with co-author, Dr James Warner, Dr Gupta has published an editorial for the November issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry entitled Alcohol-related dementia: a 21st-century silent epidemic? Here, he discusses his paper with Dr Mark Salter. More...

Dr Mark Walterfang is a psychiatrist based at the Neuropsychiatry Centre, University of Melbourne.
Together with some co-authors, Dr Walterfang has published a paper in the June issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry on morphology of the corpus callosum at different stages of schizophrenia: cross-sectional study in first-episode and chronic illness. He discusses his paper here with Raj Persaud. More...

Dr Marcia Kauer-Sant'Anna is based at the Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and Mood Disorders Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Together with some co-authors, Dr Kauer-Sant’Anna has published a paper in the June issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry on emotional memory in bipolar disorder, which she discusses here with Raj Persaud. More...

Dr Rose McCabe is based at the Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry, Barts, and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary, University of London.
With her co-author, Dr Stefan Priebe, Dr McCabe has published a paper in the June issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry on Communication and psychosis: it's good to talk, but how? She discusses the paper here with Raj Persaud. More...

Professor Michael King is based at the Department of Mental Health Sciences, University College London.
Together with some co-authors, Professor King has published a paper in the May issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry on prevalence of common mental disorders in general practice attendees across Europe, which he discusses here with Raj Persaud. More...

Professor Mario Incayawa is based at Runajambi Institute for the Study of Quichua Culture and Health, in Otavalo, Ecuador.
Here, he discusses his recently published paper, entitled Efficacy of Quichua healers as psychiatric diagnosticians. His study can be found in the May issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry. More...

Dr David Veale is based at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London.
Together with Dr Derek Summerfield, he has published a debate piece in the May issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry, around the issue that proposals for massive expansion of psychological therapies would be counterproductive across society.
He discusses this here with Raj Persaud. More...

Daniel Freeman is a Wellcome Trust Fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry, London. With some co-authors, he’s produced a paper published in the April issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry, entitled virtual reality study of paranoid thinking in the general population, which he discusses here with Raj Persaud. More...

Celia Morgan, based at the Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit, University College London has produced a paper with co-author, Valerie Curran on the effects of cannabidiol on schizophrenia-like symptoms in people who use cannabis, which she discusses here with Raj Persaud. More...

Professor Shôn Lewis, based at the Department of Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, University of Manchester, talks to Raj Persaud about his editorial, written with Jeffrey Lieberman and published in the March issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry on CATIE and CUtLASS: can we handle the truth? More...

E. David Klonsky is an associate Professor of Psychology, based at the Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, New York.
Here he talks to Raj Persaud about his paper, co-authored by Anne Moyer and published in the March issue of The British Journal of Psychiatry on childhood sexual abuse and non-suicidal self-injury: meta-analysis. More...

Harriet Ball is a PhD student of the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, at the Institute of Psychiatry, London. She and several co-authors have produced a paper, published in the April issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry, on attributional style and depression.
Harriet discusses the article here with Raj Persaud. More...

Professor Paul Bebbington is Head of the Department of Mental Health Sciences, University College London.
He and several co-authors have produced a paper, published in the March issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry on perceptions of disadvantage, ethnicity and psychosis. Here, he discusses the article with Raj Persaud. More...

Matthew K. Nock, Ph.D. is the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences and Director of the Laboratory for Clinical and Developmental Research in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University.
Here, he talks to Raj Persaud about the paper he recently published, with several co-authors in the British Journal of Psychiatry, on cross-national prevalence and risk factors for suicidal ideation, plans and attempts. More...

James Cole is an experimental psychology graduate from the University of Bristol. He is currently studying for his PhD at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry (SGDP) Centre.
Here, he talks to Raj Persaud about his editorial, recently published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, on classification of depression: are we still confused? More...

Professor Vikram Patel, Professor of Psychiatry from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine talks to Dr Raj Persaud about his descriptive study in the January 2008 issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry looking at the prevalence of mental disorders in adolescents in Goa. More...

Dr Raj Persaud speaks to Professor Gerald M Rosen about his editorial in the January 2008 issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry, which addresses the problems with post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis and its future in DSM-V. More...

Dr Raj Persaud speaks to Dr Gareth Owen about his intriguing paper in which the authors tested a phenomenological hypothesis about theoretical and practical rationality in people with schizophrenia. More...

This podcast focuses on Enduring consequences of terrorism: 7-month follow-up survey of reactions to the bombings in London on 7 July 2005' from the April 2007 issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry. More...

This podcast focuses on Psychiatric disorder among British children looked after by local authorities: comparison with children living in private households' from the April 2007 issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry. More...